Device-Specific Authorization at Distributed Locations

ABSTRACT

A method includes receiving authentication information for a client device at a server. The authentication information includes a network address of the client device, a geographic location of the client device, and a first result of a one-way hash function based on a combination of the network address, an authentication seed, and a first secret. The method includes computing, with the server, a second result of the one-way hash function based on a combination of the network address, the authentication seed, and a second secret. The method also includes enabling the client device to access a second network in response to a determination by the server that the first result matches the second result and a determination by the server that the client device is authorized to access the second network based on the geographic location.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims priority from and is a continuationapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/525,873, filed Jun.18, 2012, which is a continuation application of U.S. Pat. No.8,261,327, filed Jul. 14, 2008, which claims the benefit of and priorityfrom U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/949,404, filed Jul. 12,2007 and titled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DEVICE-SPECIFIC AUTHORIZATION ATDISTRIBUTED LOCATIONS,” each of which is expressly incorporated hereinby reference in its entirety.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/851,633, titled “METHOD FORPROVIDING WIRELESS SERVICES” and filed on May 21, 2004, is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completelyset forth herein.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,061, titled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORGEOGRAPHIC-BASED COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE” is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure is in the field of Internet access and, morespecifically, Internet access at distributed locations.

BACKGROUND

Several Internet service providers (ISPs) provide services at publiclocations such as hotels, airports, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.(so-called “hot-spots”). Many of these locations provide services for afee. The fee may be provided via a web-browser interface using creditcard, debit card, prepaid card, etc., or the user may be part of asubscriber group where access may be granted for the subscriber via usersubmission of subscription credentials (e.g., a username and password).

Authentication mechanisms for accessing services work well for devicesthat support a web browser and have a keyboard to enter username andpassword or credit card credentials. The authentication mechanisms maynot work well (e.g., may be inconvenient) for devices that are small andhave limited user input capabilities. Moreover, implementation ofauthentication mechanisms may be difficult for devices or systems thatdo not support web browsers.

Many ISPs control access to a site via the MAC (media access control)address of the network interface card that connects to the internet.Hence, some ISPs have taken the approach of storing a database of MACaddresses of devices, then, when input including a MAC address of adevice is received, the device is automatically authenticated based on amatch of the MAC address with an MAC address entry in the database.

Whereas this MAC address identification may be convenient since it maynot require user input for various network access, and also since it isdevice specific, unfortunately it is not secure and can be compromised.That is, the MAC address can be changed and/or “spoofed,” where the MACaddress of an unauthorized device is masqueraded with a MAC address ofan authorized device.

Another method for authentication that is slightly more secure is to usea certificate-based system (e.g., using X.509 certificates). While thisis more secure, the X.509 certificates can be shared. Moreover, anindividual certificate would have to be created, managed and placed oneach device, creating a management problem for millions of devices.

What is needed is a convenient method of authentication that ismanageable and may not be easily compromised.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The preferred embodiments will become apparent upon reading thefollowing detailed description and upon reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of a block diagram of a networkcommunication system;

FIG. 2 is a second embodiment of a block diagram of a networkcommunication system;

FIG. 3 is a first embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 4 is a second embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 5 is a third embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 6A is a fourth embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 6B is a fifth embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 6C is a sixth embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization;

FIG. 7 is an embodiment of a block diagram of various computer systemsand various computer readable mediums;

FIG. 8A is a first embodiment of a block diagram of a limited user inputcomputing device;

FIG. 8B is a second embodiment of a block diagram of a limited userinput computing device;

FIG. 9 is a first embodiment of a flowchart diagram of an update method;and

FIG. 10 is a second embodiment of a flowchart diagram of an updatemethod.

While the embodiments presented herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown byway of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail.It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to limit claimed subject matter tothe particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is tocover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within thespirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appendedclaims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of a network communication system(NCS) 100 is illustrated. NCS 100 may include one or more access points(APs) such as APs 120A-120D. In various embodiments, wired APs 120C-120Dmay each communicate with one or more computing devices in a wiredfashion. For example, wired access point (AP) 120C may communicate withportable computing devices (PCDs) 110D-110F in a wired fashion, andwired AP 120D may communicate with portable computing device (PCD) 110Ain a wired fashion. In some embodiments, wireless APs 120A-120B may eachcommunicate with one or more computing devices in a wireless fashion.For example, wireless AP 120B may communicate with a PCD 110B and/or aPCD 110C, and wireless AP 120A may communicate with other computingdevices. Each of wireless APs 120A-120B may include a wirelesstransceiver and may operate according to one or more wireless standards,such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16,wireless Ethernet (IEEE 802.11), Bluetooth (IEEE 802.15), General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), CDMA (code division multiple access), TDMA (timedivision multiple access), FDMA (frequency division multiple access),ultra wide band, digital, and/or infrared communication technologies,among others.

Each of APs 120A-120D may be coupled to a network 130A. Network 130A maybe coupled to a network management device (NMD) 105. NMD 105 may becoupled to a network 130B. In various embodiments, NMD 105 may provideauthentication, quality of service (QoS), communication traffic shaping,and/or access control from one or more computing devices (e.g., PCDs110A-110F, retail entity computing devices (RECDs) 111A-111C, and backoffice devices (BODs) 170A-170C) coupled to network 130A through one ofAPs 120A-120D to network 130B. In some embodiments, NMD 105 may includean access control mechanism and/or a firewall mechanism. For example,the access control mechanism and/or the firewall mechanism may be usedin conducting data communications in accordance and/or in associationwith providing various network access, qualities of services, and/ortraffic shaping.

In various embodiments, network 130A, network 130B, or both, may includea wired network, a wireless network or a combination of wired andwireless networks. Network 130A, network 130B, or both, may includeand/or be coupled to various types of communications networks, such as apublic switched telephone network (PSTN), an Internet, a wide areanetwork (WAN) (e.g., a private WAN, corporate WAN, etc.), and a localarea network (LAN). Thus, NMD 105 may be coupled to a PSTN (e.g., viaEthernet cable and DSL); a cable (television) based network; asatellite-based system; and/or a fiber based network; among others.

In some embodiments, network 130A, network 130B, or both, may includeone or more wireless networks (e.g., a network based on IEEE 802.11and/or IEEE 802.16). For instance, one or more wired and/or wireless APs120A-120D may be coupled to network 130A in a wireless fashion. Network130A, network 130B, or both, may include one or more DSL (digitalsubscriber line) and/or cable (e.g., cable television) networks and/orinfrastructures. For example, network 130A, network 130B, or both, mayinclude one or more of: cable modems, cable modem termination systems(CMTSs), satellite modems, DSL modems, digital subscriber line accessmultiplexers (DSLAMs), broadband remote access servers (BRASs),telecommunications circuits, and/or metropolitan area networks (MANs),among others. In various embodiments, network 130B may form part of theInternet, or may couple to other networks (e.g., other local or widearea networks, such as the Internet).

In various embodiments, access to these networks may include one or more“services” these networks may provide. For example, these one or moreservices may include: email, world wide web, file transfer, printing,file sharing, file system sharing, remote file system, network filesystem (NFS), news, multicast, netbios, encryption, domain name service(DNS), routing, tunneling, chat such as Internet Remote Chat and/or AOLInstant Messenger, gaming, licensing, license management, digital rightsmanagement, network time, remote desktop, remote windowing, database(e.g., Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, etc.), authentication,accounting, authorization, virtual local area network (VLAN) (e.g., IEEE802.1q), virtual private network or VPN, audio, phone, Voice OverInternet Protocol (VoIP), paging, and/or video, among others. In someembodiments, these one or more service may be associated with and/orcorrespond to one or more protocols of one or more computer and/orsoftware applications.

NCS 100 may include one or more content providers 160A, 160B. In someembodiments, content provider 160A may be coupled to network 130A. Insome embodiments, content provider 160B may be coupled to network 130B.Content provider 160A, content provider 160B, or both may providecontent such as audio, video, text, pictures, and/or maps among othersthrough one or more protocols. Some or all of the information fromcontent provider 160A, content provider 160B, or both may bepre-distributed to a local cache device 162 (such as a computer system,a computer hard drive, and/or other memory media) which may facilitatefaster local access to the content and/or which may minimize delaysand/or costs of transmitting the content through a network, such asnetwork 130B.

The content may be based on a retail entity and/or one or morepromotions of the retail entity. For example, the content may beentertainment type content to entice customers into the retail entitylocations. For example, for a fast food restaurant, such as a McDonalds,content may be provided that is geared to children, such as games basedon current McDonalds' promotions and/or themes, etc. In someembodiments, network access to this type of enticement content may begiven freely to purchasing customers to entice them to visit the retaillocation. This type of network content may be provided in lieu oftraditional “plastic toys” or other items routinely given out tochildren in these restaurants.

In some embodiments, content provider 160A, content provider 160B, orboth may provide content that may be used by a business itself (e.g.,content to train employees of the retail entity and/or provide necessarybusiness information). In some embodiments, NMD 105 may include contentprovider 160A or the content and/or functionality of content provider160A. A portion or all of the content may be cached on the local cachedevice 162.

In some embodiments, one or more back office devices (BODs) 170A-170Cmay be coupled to network 130A. For example, one or more of a BODs170A-170C may include a cash register, a point of sale (POS) terminal, asmart card reader, a camera, a bar code reader, a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader, a credit card reading mechanism, and/or aremote order placing device, among others. In some embodiments, theremote order placing device may allow a retail entity to remotely acceptorders from customers using the remote order placing device. Forexample, a customer may use a “drive-thru” window and the remote orderplacing device at one location, and the retail entity may accept theorder at another location. For instance, the retail entity may acceptorders in a first city from customers using the remote order placingdevice in a different second city.

In various embodiments, one or more of BODs 170A-170C may be configuredto contact a clearinghouse through one or more networks (e.g., one ormore of networks 130A-130B) to debit one or more credit and/or debitcard accounts. One or more of BODs 170A-170C may include othermechanisms to identify a customer and/or customer account information.The POS terminal may include a smart card reader. In some embodiments, aback office device (BOD) may be coupled to a network through a wired AP.For example, BOD 170A may be coupled to network 130A through wired AP120D. In various embodiments, a BOD may be coupled to a network in awireless fashion. For example, BOD 170C may be coupled to network 130Athrough wireless AP 120B.

In some embodiments, a retail entity computing device (RECD) may becoupled to network 130A. Retail entity computing devices (RECDs)111A-111B may be coupled to network 130A in a wired fashion (e.g.,through wired AP 120D) while RECD 111C may be coupled to network 130A ina wireless fashion (e.g., through wireless AP 120B). A retail entity mayprovide RECDs 111A-111C at various locations of the retail entity. RECDs111A-111C may be used by customers of the retail entity to accesscontent and/or network services offered at the various locations. Invarious embodiments, the retail entity may distribute access codes, andthe access codes may be used to authenticate a user for service. Forexample, an access code may be used to authenticate a user for access tonetwork 130B. One or more of RECDs 111A-111C may be “locked down” toprevent theft.

The retail entity may distribute access codes to access content throughone or more of RECDs 111A-111C. For example, a customer of the retailentity may receive an access code and use the access code with RECD 111Bto access content from one or more of content providers 160A-160B. Invarious examples, the content may include audio, video, maps, pictures,and/or text, among others. For instance, the content may include a movietrailer, a music video, a computer-implemented game, web pages,graphics, a digital news publication, and/or a digital magazine, amongothers. Some or all of the content may be cached on a local cache device162. The content cache may be updated, replaced, or added to based onvarious factors including the date of the content (e.g., digitalmagazines and/or digital newspapers may be updated once/day oronce/week), the local demographics or local area attractions, size ofthe data, available bandwidth for download, and/or other scheduledmechanism for updating the cached content.

In some embodiments, NCS 100 may include a server computing device (SCD)145 coupled to network 130A. SCD 145 may store and/or provide variousshared secrets to various computing devices coupled to network 130A. Invarious embodiments, SCD 145 may communicate with various computingdevices coupled to network 130A using use one or more secure and/orencrypted methods and/or systems. For example, SCD 145 may communicatewith various computing devices coupled to network 130A using transportlayer security (TLS), HTTPS (secure hypertext transfer protocol), and/ora secure socket layer (SSL), among others.

In some embodiments, NCS 100 may include one or more server computingdevices (SCDs) 140A-140C and/or one or more PCDs 110G-110H coupled tonetwork 130B. In one example, SCD 140A may include variousauthentication and/or authorization services used in providing accessfrom network 130A to network 130B. In a second example, one or more ofSCDs 140B-140C may provide content and/or other network servicesdescribed herein. For instance, SCD 140B may provide SCD 145 with one ormore shared secret updates. SCD 140B and SCD 145 may communicate in asecure fashion (e.g., using TLS, HTTPS, SSL, etc.). In another example,one or more PCDs 110G-110H may exchange data associated with one or morenetwork services described herein. In various embodiments, one or morecomputing devices coupled to network 130A may be permitted to accessand/or communication with computing devices coupled to network 130Bafter being permitted to do so.

NCS 100 may include a management information base (MIB) 150. MIB 150 maybe coupled to network 130A. In various embodiments, MIB 150 may be amechanism, such as a memory, which may allow the persistent storage andmanagement of information that may be used by network 130A to operate.In some embodiments, MIB 150 may store a data structure, such as a tablecomprising a list of identification information and a corresponding listof two or more possible networks and/or services. The data structure mayalso store access information, which may include associated methods forproviding data to/from the respective two or more possible networksand/or services. The access information may include access level and/orprivilege level information. The data structure may include a table oftwo or more tuples, with each tuple including the identificationinformation. In various embodiments, the data structures that store thisinformation may be included in each of the APs 120A-120D, or may beprovided in various other locations.

MIB 150 may store other information, such as a directory of one or moreof the elements (e.g., access points, computing devices, etc) in NCS100, network topology information, characteristics of individual networkelements, characteristics of connection links, performance and trendstatistics, and/or any information that may be of interest in operatingnetwork 130A. For example, MIB 150 may store longitude, latitude,altitude and/or other geographic information that may be used to locateone or more access points and/or one or more geographic regions.

In some embodiments, NMD 105 may be a computer system operable toinclude one or more of MIB 150, network 130A, SCD 145, variousnetworking equipment, and/or one or more APs 120A-120D, among others.

In various embodiments, a user operating a computing device (e.g., oneof PCDs 110A-110F) may communicate with one of the APs 120A-120D to gainaccess to a network and its services, such as the Internet. One or moreof PCDs 110B, 110C may have a wireless communication device (e.g., awireless Ethernet card) for communicating with one or more of thewireless APs 120A, 120B. One or more of PCDs 110A and 110D-110F may havea wired communication device (e.g., an Ethernet card) for communicatingwith one or more of the wired APs 120C-120D. In various embodiments, oneor more of PCDs 110A-110F may be any of various types of devices,including a computer system, such as a portable computer, a personaldigital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone (e.g., a cellular telephone,a satellite telephone, etc.), a wearable computing device, an Internetappliance, a communications device, or other wired or wireless device.One or more of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C, and/orcontent provider 160A may include various wireless or wiredcommunication devices, such as a wireless Ethernet card, paging logic,RF (radio frequency) communication logic, a wired Ethernet card, amodem, a DSL device, an ISDN device, an ATM (asynchronous transfer mode)device, a parallel and/or serial port bus interface, and/or other typeof communication device.

In some embodiments, one or more of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C,BODs 170A-170C, and/or content provider 160A may include a memory mediumwhich stores identification (ID) information and/or shared secretinformation. The identification information may be a System ID (e.g., anIEEE 802.11 System ID), a processor or CPU ID, a Media Access Control(MAC) ID of a wireless or wired Ethernet device (e.g., a MAC address),network identification information, and/or other type of informationthat identifies the computing device. The identification information maybe included in a digital certificate (e.g., an X.509 certificate), whichmay be stored in a web browser, in a client software, and/or in a memorymedium of the computing device. In various embodiments, the sharedsecret information may be stored in a memory medium of the computingdevice and may be accessible by client software of the computing device.For example, the shared secret information may include various stringsof data that may be combined with other data which may be used indetermining a result of a one-way hash function.

In communicating with wireless APs 120A, 120B, the wirelesscommunication may be accomplished in a number of ways. In someembodiments, one or more of PCDs 110B, 110C, BOD 170C, RECD 111C, andwireless APs 120A, 120B may be equipped with appropriate transmittersand receivers compatible in power and frequency range (e.g., 900 MHz,2.4 GHz, 3.6 GHz, 5 GHz, among others) to establish a wirelesscommunication link. Wireless communication may also be accomplishedthrough cellular, satellite, digital, and/or infrared communicationtechnologies, among others. To provide user identification and/or ensuresecurity, a computing device and/or wireless AP may use any of varioussecurity systems and/or methods.

In communicating with wired APs 120C, 120D, the wired connection may beaccomplished through a variety of different ports, connectors, and/ortransmission mediums. For example, one or more PCDs 110A and 110D-110F,RECDs 111A, 111B, and BOD 170A may be coupled through an Ethernet,universal serial bus (USB), FireWire (e.g., IEEE 1394), serialtransmission cables, and/or parallel transmission cables, among others.One or more of PCDs 110A and 110D-110F may include various communicationdevices for connecting to one of the wired APs 120C, 120D, such as wiredEthernet cards, modems, DSL adapters, ATM adapters, IDSN devices, orother communication devices. In one example, a hotel may have Ethernetconnections in the restaurants, shops, meeting rooms, and/or guestrooms. In a second example, a fast-food restaurant and/or a coffee shopmay have both wireless and wired connections for mobile users. A usermay connect to a wired AP 120C through the use of a laptop computer(e.g., one of PCDs 110D-110F), an Ethernet network card, and a networkcable. This connection may have the same impact as a connection made tothe wireless AP 120B. In other words, a user using a wired portablecomputing device may be able to use various network infrastructures inthe same manner as a user using a wireless portable computing device.

In some embodiments, access codes to content may be provided tocustomers with a purchase of goods and/or services. For example, acustomer may receive an access code to download a computer-implementedgame. The computer-implemented game may be downloaded to one or more ofPCDs 110A-110F, for instance. The access code to download acomputer-implemented game may be distributed instead of a toy or trinketthat may have accompanied a purchase of a meal. The computer-implementedgame may include one or more digital rights management schemes. Forinstance, a digital rights management scheme may provide protectionagainst further distribution of the computer-implemented game (e.g., notallowing distribution of the computer-implemented game to anothercomputing device after it is downloaded). A digital rights managementscheme may allow the computer-implemented game to only be played at alocation of the retail entity.

In various embodiments, NCS 100 may be geographic-based. In other words,the NCS 100 may provide information and/or services to a computingdevice (e.g., one of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, and BODs170A-170C) based at least partly on the geographic location of thecomputing device (e.g., as indicated by one or more of APs 120A-120Dand/or as indicated by geographic information, such as GPS information,fast-food restaurant location and/or coffee shop location, roomidentification, room number, room name, and/or room area, among others)provided from the computing device. In some embodiments, one or more ofAPs 120A-120D may be arranged at known geographic locations and mayprovide geographic location information regarding the geographiclocation of the user and/or the computing device. In some embodiments, acomputing device (e.g., one of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, and BODs170A-170C) may provide geographic location information of the computingdevice through an access point (e.g., one of APs 120A-120D) to network130A. For example, the computing device may include GPS (GlobalPositioning System) equipment enabling the computing device to provideits geographic location through the access point to network 130A.

In various embodiments, NMD 105 may service a single location. In someembodiments, NMD 105 may service two or more locations (e.g., locations175A-175C), as shown in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2. For instance,each of various locations 175A-175C may include a portion of NCS 100. Asdescribed herein, a geographic location may include a geographic region.For instance, locations 175A-175C may be referred to as geographiclocations and/or geographic regions, and they may include one or moreareas of one or more sizes. In one example, location 175C may include ameeting room. In second example, location 175A may include a retailentity location, such as a coffee shop, a sandwich shop, a McDonalds'location, etc. In another example, location 175B may include a city.More information regarding geographic location information may be foundin U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,061, referenced above.

One or more of the systems described herein, such as PCDs 110A-110F, APs120A-120D, BODs 170A-170C, MIB 150, content providers 160A, 160B, servercomputing devices (SCDs) 140A-140C, and NMD 105 may include a memorymedium on which computer programs and/or data according to the presentinvention may be stored. For example, each of the APs 120A-120D, MIB150, or both may store a data structure as described above includinginformation regarding identification information, applicationidentification information, protocol identification information,corresponding networks, and/or access information such as associateddata routing and/or QoS methods. Each of the APs 120A-120D, and/or MIB150 may further store a software program for accessing these datastructures and using the information therein to properly provide and/orroute data between computing devices and networks, and/or to selectivelyprovide and/or route data depending on the access information and/or theQoS. In various embodiments, various of the systems and/or methodsdescribed herein may be used to provide network access from a firstnetwork to a second network. For example, the first network may includenetwork 130A, and the second network may include network 130B.

In some embodiments, one or more computer systems may communicate withthe one or more other computer systems using use one or more secureand/or encrypted methods and/or systems. For example, PCD 110A maycommunicate with the one or more computer systems (e.g., PCDs 110A-110F,NMD 105, SCDs 145, 140A-140C, and/or content providers 160A, 160Bdepicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) using TLS, HTTPS, and/or a SSL, amongothers.

The term “memory medium” and/or “computer readable medium” is intendedto include various types of memory or storage, including an installationmedium (e.g., a CD-ROM, or floppy disks, a random access memory orcomputer system memory such as DRAM, SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, NVRAM,EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory etc., and/or a non-volatile memory such as amagnetic media, such as a hard drive and/or optical storage). The memorymedium may include other types of memory as well, or combinationsthereof. In some embodiments, the memory medium may be and/or include anarticle of manufacture and/or a software product. In addition, thememory medium may be located in a first computer in which the programsare executed, or may be located in a second different computer and/orhardware memory device that connects to the first computer over anetwork. In some embodiments, the second computer provides the programinstructions to the first computer for execution. The memory medium mayalso be a distributed memory medium (e.g., for security reasons) where aportion of the data is stored on one memory medium and the remainingportion of the data may be stored on a different memory medium. Also,the memory medium may include one of the networks to which the currentnetwork is coupled (e.g., a SAN (Storage Area Network)).

In various embodiments, each of the systems described herein may takevarious forms, including a personal computer system, server computersystem, workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, wearablecomputing device, personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop, mobiletelephone, mobile multimedia device, embedded computer system,television system, and/or other device. In general, the terms “computingdevice”, “computer”, and/or “computer system” can be broadly defined toencompass any device having a processor which executes instructions froma memory medium.

The memory medium in one or more systems thus may store a softwareprogram and/or data for performing and/or enabling access and/orselective network access and/or network service. A CPU or processingunit in one or more systems executing code and data from a memory mediumincludes a means for executing one or more software program according tothe methods and/or flowcharts described herein.

Referring now to FIGS. 3-6C, various flowchart diagrams are illustrated,according to various embodiments. FIGS. 3-6C include various methodsthat may be used in a client-server system.

Turning now to FIG. 3, a first embodiment of a flowchart diagram of amethod of device authorization is illustrated. At 300, a computingdevice (e.g., one of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C,and/or content provider 160A depicted in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) may transmita first request to a first network, such as network 130A. The methodillustrated in FIG. 3 may be used by a client in the client-serversystem.

Turning now to FIG. 4, where operation of the client server system maycontinue, a second embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization is illustrated. The method illustrated in FIG. 4may be used by a server in the client-server system. At 400, the firstrequest from the computing device may be intercepted. For example, theNMD 105 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may intercept the request. In variousembodiments, the NMD 105 may include and/or implement an accesscontroller that intercepts the request from the computing device. Forinstance, the request may include one or more data packets (e.g.,Internet protocol packets, transmission control protocol packets, userdatagram packets, etc.), and the access controller may examineinformation included in the one or more data packets. For example, theaccess controller may examine a destination address, a destination port,a source address, etc. In some embodiments, the access controller mayinclude and/or implement a firewall and various services and/orattributes associated with firewalls.

Next, at 410, it may be determined whether or not to redirect therequest. For example, the access controller may determine to redirectthe request based on information from the one or more data packets. Forinstance, the access controller may determine that the requests includesinformation such as a destination port (e.g., a known port of a webserver, etc.), a destination address such as an Internet protocol (IP)address, and/or a source address of the computing device, among others.The source address of the computing device may include an IP addressand/or a media access control (MAC) address, among others. In someembodiments, the destination address may not correspond to a computersystem. For example, the destination address may be a mock address. Forinstance, the mock address may not be assigned to a computer system.

In various embodiments, an access control list may be used indetermining whether or not to redirect the request. For example, theaccess control list may include a list of one or more addresses that maybe accessed. For instance, an address of SCD 140A of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2may be included in the list of addresses that may be accessed.Accordingly, if the destination address includes the address of SCD140A, the request may be passed along to SCD 140A, at 420. In someembodiments, one or more access rules may be used in determining toredirect the request. For example, the one or more access rules mayallow one or more requests from one or more source addresses to bepassed along. For instance, the one or more rules may allow requestsfrom source addresses of PCDs 110C-110E, BOD 170A, and/or RECD 111B ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2 to be passed along to network 130B of FIG. 1 and FIG.2, at 420.

If it is determined to redirect the request, the method may proceed to430 where redirection information may be transmitted to the computingdevice. In some embodiments, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)redirect may be transmitted to the computing device. For example, theredirect may include a location of a server. In one instance, thelocation may include an address of NMD 105 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Inanother instance, the location may include an address of SCD 140A ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In various embodiments, information associated withthe redirection may be transmitted to the computing device. For example,the information associated with the redirection may include one or moreof a service provider, an access procedure, an access location, an errorcode, a login uniform resource locator (URL), a message type, one ormore wireless Internet service provider (WISP) access gatewayparameters, a response code, and/or an authentication seed, amongothers. This information or one or more portions thereof may beconsidered authentication support information.

In various embodiments, the authentication seed may include a number(e.g., a string of numbers and/or digits) and/or an ASCII string ofcharacters. In various embodiments, a first authentication seed may becombined with first data, a second, different, authentication seed maybe combined with the first data, and a first result of a one-way hashfunction of the combination of the first authentication seed and thefirst data and a second result of the one-way hash function of thecombination of the second authentication seed and the first data may bediffering results from each other. In some embodiments, anauthentication seed may be preselected, may be a result of anon-repetitive function, may be chosen at random, may be a result of apseudo-random function generator, and/or may be a result of a randomfunction generator.

As an example, possible redirection information is shown below in Table1.

TABLE 1 HTTP/1.0 302 Redirect Server: Apache 1.3.6 Location:http://SCD140A.wayport.net/login <!--ServiceProvider=Wayport --><!--access procedure=WY.1 --> <!--access location= wp_123.1234 --><!--error=0 --> <!-- LoginURL= http://SCD140A.wayport.net/login --> <!--   <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?>    <WISPAccessGatewayParam      xmlns:xsi=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-       instance”      xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation=      “http://roamer.wayport.net/WayportGISParam.xsd”>     <Redirect>      <AccessProcedure>1.0</AccessProcedure>      <AccessLocation>wp_123.1234</AccessLocation>      <LocationName>Wayport Cafe Property       123</LocationName>      <AuthetcationSeed>1809212008</AuthenticationSeed>      <LoginURL>http://SCD140A.wayport.net/login</       LoginURL>      <MessageType>100</MessageType>      <ResponseCode>0</ResponseCode>     </Redirect>   </WISPAccessGatewayParam> -->

As shown, one or more portions of authentication support information maybe included in a data description language such as an extensible markuplanguage (XML).

Turning now to FIG. 5, where operation of the client server system maycontinue, a third embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization is illustrated. The method illustrated in FIG. 5may be used by a client in the client-server system. At 500, thecomputing device may receive the authentication support information.Next at 510, the computing device may attain a shared secret. In someembodiments, the computing device may attain the shared secret from amemory medium (e.g., a memory medium of the computing device). Invarious embodiments, the computing device may attain the shared secretfrom a server computing device (e.g., SCD 145 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). Forexample, the computing device may query and/or request the shared secretfrom the server computing device, and the server computing device maycommunicate the shared secret to the computing device.

In some embodiments, the shared secret may include characters and/orbinary data. For example, the computing device may attain the sharedsecret by selecting from the one or more shared secrets in Table 2. Invarious embodiments, the shared secrets shown in Table 2 may be storedin a memory medium of a client and/or a server in the client-serversystem. In some embodiments, the computing device may communicate with aserver computing device (e.g., SCD 145 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) to attain ashared secret, and the server computing device may provide the sharedsecret to the computing device. The server computing device may selectthe shared secret from the one or more shared secrets in Table 2. Theserver computing device and the computing device may communicate in asecure fashion (e.g., using TLS, HTTPS, SSL, etc.).

TABLE 2 “Mary had @ !ittle l&mb” “76a7c626a4f0d976725bda3afbe9f373”“Everybody is somebody else's weirdo” “Fourscore and seven years ago ourfathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived inliberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”“a5d7f9d6a5aa1d{circumflex over ( )}%$@!~” “What a piece of work is man”“What merchant's ships have my sighs drown'd?” “Never test a river depthwith both feet” “Patience will come to those who wait for it” “A learnedblockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one”

Next at 520, the computing device may determine a network address. Insome embodiments, the computing device may determine its MAC address asthe network address. Next at 530, the network address, theauthentication seed, and the shared secret string may be combined. Inone example, the network address may include “00:0d:a3:88:be:fe”, theauthentication seed may include “1809212008”, and the selected orattained shared secret may include “Mary had a little lamb”, and thecombination may include “00:0d:a3:88:be:fe1809212008Mary had a littlelamb”.

Next at 540, a result of a one-way hash function of the combination ofthe network address, the authentication seed, and the shared secret maybe determined. In some embodiments, the result of the one-way hashfunction may be considered a message authentication code that may beused to authenticate data.

In various embodiments, a one-way hash function may be relatively easyto compute (e.g., calculate by a processor executing instructions from acomputer-readable medium) and significantly difficult to reverse. Forexample, for a value x (e.g., a number, a string, binary data, etc.) anda one-way hash function f, f(x) is relatively easy to compute, and for avalue f(z), z is significantly difficult to compute. In variousembodiments, significantly difficult to compute may mean that it couldtake years to compute z from f(z), even if multiple computers wereapplied to the task. In some embodiments, a one-way hash function may beconsidered collision free. For example, the one-way hash function may beone-to-one or injective and, thus, may be considered collision free. Invarious instances, one-way hash functions may be considered acryptographic checksum, a message digest, a digital fingerprint, amessage integrity check, a contraction function, a compression function,and/or a manipulation detection code. Various examples of one-way hashfunctions may include one or more of message digest (MD) 2, MD 4, MD 5,RIPE-MD, Abreast Davies-Meyer, Davies-Meyer, HAVAL, GOST Hash, N-HASH,SHA (secure hash algorithm), and/or SNEFRU, among others. In someembodiments, a one-way hash function may be a composite function of twoor more one-way hash functions. For example, a function g may include aMD 5 one-way hash function, a function h may include a SHA one-way hashfunction, and a function j may include a MD 5 one-way hash function, anda function f may include a composite function such that f(x)=g(h(j(x))).A one-way hash function that is a composite function of two or moreone-way hash functions may be considered to be and/or said to bestrengthened.

In one example, the one-way hash function applied at 540 may include aMD 5 one-way hash function, and a result of the MD 5 one-way hashfunction of the combination from 530 may include“98ae32fb785a882bf607be669e9790c2” which is a hexadecimal representationof a 128-bit number.

Next at 550, the computing device may transmit a network access requestto a server. The network access request may include the addressdetermined at 520 and the result of the one-way hash function determinedat 540. In one example, the network access request may be transmitted toSCD 140A. In a second example, the access request may be transmitted toNMD 105 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

In various embodiments, SCD 140A and/or NMD 105 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 mayinclude a web server that may receive the network access request. Forexample, the web server may receive information included in Table 3,below.

TABLE 3 POST /login HTTP/1.0 Content-Length: 147MacAddr=00:0d:a3:88:be:fe&IpAddr=192.168.1.1&PortType=Guest&NmdId=351&username=Wellcent/00:0d:a3:88:be:fe&password=98ae32fb785a882bf607be669e9790c2

As shown in Table 3, the username may include a realm. For example, therealm may include “Wellcent” that may indicate a roaming partner and/ora network provider associated with an operator of NCS 100 of FIG. 1 andFIG. 2. As also shown in Table 3, the username may include the addressdetermined at 520, and the password may include the result of theone-way hash function, determined at 540.

In some embodiments, one or more of SCDs 140A-140C and/or NMD 105 ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may include authentication, authorization, andaccounting (or “AAA”) processes and/or services. RADIUS (RemoteAuthentication Dial-In User Service) is an example of an AAA serviceused by various Internet Service Providers (ISPs). (The RADIUSspecification is maintained by a working group of the InternetEngineering Task Force, the main standards organization for the Internet(e.g., see RFC 2865 and RFC 2866). In one example, a user may connect acomputing device to an Internet service provider (ISP), the user'susername and password may be transmitted to an AAA server (e.g., aRADIUS server) and/or to an AAA interface server (e.g., a web server).The AAA server may then check that the information is correct andauthorize access to the ISP's system and/or services. Other protocolsfor providing an AAA framework may include DIAMETER (an extension ofRADIUS), EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol), TACACS (TerminalAccess Controller Access Control System), TACACS+, and/or XTACAS,802.1x, WPA, 802.11i, among others. In various embodiments, these mayalso be used for applications, such as access to network service and/orIP mobility, and are intended to work in both local AAA and roamingsituations.

In one example, AAA processes and/or services of SCD 140A and/or NMD 105of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 may receive a username of“Wellcent/00:0d:a3:88:be:fe” and a password of“98ae32fb785a882bf607be669e9790c2”. As described above, the username mayinclude a realm (e.g., “Wellcent”) that may indicate a roaming partnerand/or network provider associated with an operator of NCS 100 of FIG. 1and FIG. 2 and may include the address determined at 520, and thepassword may include the result of the one-way hash function, determinedat 540. In some embodiments, the username and password may beRADIUS-qualified. In various embodiments, the result of the one-way hashfunction, determined at 540, may be included in a vendor specificattribute (VSA).

In some embodiments, SCD 140A and/or NMD 105 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 mayproxy one or more AAA requests to another computer system. In oneexample, NMD 105 may proxy one or more AAA requests to SCD 140A. Inanother example, SCD 140A may proxy one or more AAA requests to SCD 140Bof FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

Turning now to FIG. 6A, where operation of the client server system maycontinue, a fourth embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization is illustrated. The method illustrated in FIG. 6Amay be used by a server in the client-server system. At 600, the networkaddress of the computing device and the result of the one-way hashfunction may be received from the computing device. Next at 610, ashared secret may be selected. For example, a shared secret may beselected from a memory medium that may store one or more shared secrets,such as those shown in Table 2. Next at 620, the network address, theauthentication seed, and the shared secret may be combined, and a testcase result of a one-way hash function using the combination of thenetwork address, the authentication seed, and the shared secret may bedetermined at 630. At 640, it may be deter mine whether or not the testcase result matches the result of the one-way hash function receivedfrom the computing device. If not, the method may proceed to 650, whereit may be determined whether or not to try another shared secret. If so,the method may proceed to 655, where another shared secret may beselected. For example, another shared secret may be selected from thoseof Table 2. If not, the method may proceed to 660, where an errormessage may be transmitted to the computing device and/or an accesscontroller, such as NMD 105.

If the test case result matches the result of the one-way hash functionreceived from the computing device, the method may proceed from 640 toeither 665 of FIG. 6B or 665 of FIG. 6C.

Turning now to FIG. 6B, where operation of the client server system maycontinue, a fifth embodiment of a flowchart diagram of a method ofdevice authorization is illustrated. The method illustrated in FIG. 6Bmay be used by a server in the client-server system. At 665, it may bedetermined whether or not the computing device is authorized access to asecond network, such as network 130B of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. If not, themethod may proceed to 670, where an error message may be transmitted tothe computing device and/or an access controller, such as NMD 105 ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2. If so, the method may proceed to 675, where thecomputing device may be permitted to access the second network (e.g.,network 130B). In some embodiments, an authorization message may betransmitted from a server (e.g., one of SCD 140A-140C of FIG. 1 and FIG.2) to NMD 105 which may permit the computing device access of network130B.

In some embodiments, access to a second network (e.g., network 130B ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2) may be based on a geographic location of thecomputing device. For example, the computing device may be authorized toaccess network 130B; however, the computing device may be permitted toaccess network 130B from a first location (e.g., location 175A of FIG.2) and not permitted to access network 130B from a second location(e.g., location 175C of FIG. 2). A sixth embodiment of a flowchartdiagram of a method of device authorization is illustrated in FIG. 6C.The method illustrated in FIG. 6C may be used by a server in theclient-server system. Elements 665, 670, and 675 of FIG. 6C may bedescribed according to elements 665, 670, and 675 of FIG. 6B, describedabove.

Turning now to element 667 of FIG. 6C, a geographic location of thecomputing device may be determined. For example, the geographic locationmay include one of locations 175A-175C of FIG. 2. Next at 668, it may bedetermined whether or not the computing device is permitted access to asecond network (e.g., network 130B of FIG. 2) from the geographiclocation. If not, the method may proceed to 670. If so, the method mayproceed to 675.

Turning now to FIG. 7, an embodiment of a block diagram of variouscomputer systems and computer readable mediums is illustrated. One ormore computer readable mediums 700A-700L may include instructions, whichwhen executed on a respective processing system or computer system PCDs110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C, and content provider 160A ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2, may cause the respective processing system orcomputer system to perform the methods, or one or more portions of themethods thereof, described with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 5. Invarious embodiments, PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C,and content provider 160A may include respective computer readablemediums 700A-700M, as shown in FIG. 7.

Turning now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, embodiments of block diagrams of limiteduser input computing devices are illustrated. As shown in FIG. 8A, acomputing device 800A may include a display 810 and/or one or morebuttons and/or switches 820A-820D. In some embodiments, display 810 mayaccept pressure input from a user. As shown in FIG. 8B, a computingdevice 800B may include one or more buttons and/or switches 820E-820F.In various embodiments, computing device 800A and/or computing device800B may be considered to be a limited user input computing device. Insome embodiments, computing device 800A and/or computing device 800B mayinclude one of PCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C, andcontent provider 160A of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

Turning now to FIG. 9, a first embodiment of a flowchart diagram of anupdate method is illustrated. At 900, a computing device (e.g., one ofPCDs 110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C, and content provider160A of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) may receive a software and/or sharedsecret(s) update. In some embodiments, software and/or shared secret(s)may be updated from time-to-time. For example, updating software and/orshared secret(s) may be used in various efforts to prevent one or morecompromises of one or more methods and/or systems described herein. Thesoftware and/or shared secret(s) update may be referred to as a firmwareupdate. In various embodiments, the shared secret(s) may be interleavedin the software. In some embodiments, the shared secret(s) may beencrypted.

In various embodiments, the software and/or shared secret(s) update maybe received from a network. In some embodiments, the computer system maycommunicate with the one or more other computer systems using use one ormore secure and/or encrypted methods and/or systems. For example, PCD110A may communicate with the one or more computer systems (e.g., PCDs110A-110F, NMD 105, SCDs 140A-140C, and/or content providers 160A, 160Bof FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) using TLS, HTTPS, and/or a SSL, among others. Invarious embodiments, the software and/or shared secret(s) update may bereceived from another computer system and/or a memory medium. Forexample, the software and/or shared secret(s) update may be receivedfrom a thumb drive, a removable hard drive, a floppy disk, a solid statedrive (SSD), CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, a flash card, and/or a TEAclipper device,among others. In some embodiments, the software and/or shared secret(s)update may only be used one or more time finite times.

Next at 910, the software and/or shared secret(s) update may be storedin a memory medium of the computing device.

Turning now to FIG. 10, a second embodiment of a flowchart diagram of anupdate method is illustrated. At 1000, a server computing device (e.g.,SCD 145 of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) that may provide one or more sharedsecrets to one or more computing devices (e.g., one or more of PCDs110A-110F, RECDs 111A-111C, BODs 170A-170C, and content provider 160A ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 2) may receive a shared secret(s) update from anotherserver computing device (e.g., SCD 140B of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). Forexample, SCD 145 and SCD 140B depicted in FIG. 1 may communicate in asecure fashion (e.g., using TLS, HTTPS, SSL, etc.) when SCD 145 of FIG.1 is attaining the shared secret(s) update.

Next at 1010, the server computing device (e.g., SCD 145 of FIG. 1 andFIG. 2) may store the shared secret(s) update in a memory medium.

It is noted that, in various embodiment, one or more of the methodelements described herein and/or one or more portions of animplementation of a method element may be performed in varying orders,may be performed concurrently with one or more of the other methodelements, or may be omitted. Additional method elements may be performedas desired. In various embodiments, concurrently may meansimultaneously. In some embodiments, concurrently may mean apparentlysimultaneously according to some metric. For example, two or more methodelements and/or two or more portions of an implementation of a methodelement may be performed such that they appear to be simultaneous to ahuman. It is also noted that, in various embodiments, one or more of thesystem elements described herein may be omitted and additional systemelements may be added as desired.

Further modifications and alternative embodiments of various aspects ofthe invention may be apparent to those skilled in the art in view ofthis description. Accordingly, this description is to be construed asillustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled inthe art the general manner of carrying out the invention. It is to beunderstood that the forms of the invention shown and described hereinare to be taken as embodiments. Elements and materials may besubstituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts andprocesses may be reversed, and certain features of the invention may beutilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in theart after having the benefit of this description of the invention.Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as described in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving authenticationinformation at a server for a client device coupled to a first network,wherein the authentication information includes a network address of theclient device, a geographic location of the client device, and a firstresult of a one-way hash function based on a combination of the networkaddress, an authentication seed, and a first secret; receiving theauthentication seed associated with the client device at the server;retrieving a second secret at the server; computing, with the server, asecond result of the one-way hash function based on a combination of thenetwork address, the authentication seed, and the second secret; and inresponse to a determination by the server that the first result matchesthe second result and a determination by the server that the clientdevice is authorized to access a second network coupled to the firstnetwork based on the geographic location, enabling, via the server, theclient device to access the second network, wherein the second networkis different from the first network.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe client device is authorized to access the second network from afirst location and wherein the client device is not authorized to accessthe second network from a second location.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the geographic location includes global positioning systeminformation, a fast-food restaurant location, a coffee shop location, aroom identification, a room number, a room name, or a combinationthereof.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the geographic location isreceived from an access point or from the client device.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the one-way hash function includes a message-digest2 function, a message-digest 4 function, a message-digest 5 function, arace integrity primitives evaluation message digest function, an abreastdavies-meyer function, a davies-meyer function, a haval function, a gosthash function, a n-hash function, a secure hash algorithm, a snefrufunction, or a combination thereof.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinthe authentication seed comprises a number, a character, or acombination thereof.
 7. A computer-readable storage device comprisinginstructions, which when executed by a processing system, cause theprocessing system to perform operations including: receiving an addressof a computing device coupled to a first network; receiving a firstresult of a one-way hash function from the computing device; combiningthe address, an authentication seed, and a shared secret; computing asecond result of the one-way hash function of the combination of theaddress, the authentication seed, and the shared secret; determiningthat the first result matches the second result; determining ageographic location of the computing device; determining that thecomputing device is permitted network access from the geographiclocation; and determining that the computing device is permitted toaccess a second network, based on the first result matching the secondresult and that the computing device is permitted network access fromthe geographic location.
 8. The computer-readable storage device ofclaim 7, wherein the operations further include transmitting theauthentication seed to the computing device.
 9. The computer-readablestorage device of claim 7, wherein the operations further includetransmitting the shared secret to the computing device.
 10. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the shared secretis a particular shared secret of a plurality of shared secrets stored ina memory.
 11. The computer-readable storage device of claim 10, whereinthe operations further include: using the address, the authenticationseed, and a different shared secret of the plurality of shared secretsto compute a new second result when the first result does not match thesecond result; and determining that the computing device is permitted toaccess the second network, based on the first result matching the newsecond result and that the computing device is permitted network accessfrom the geographic location.
 12. The computer-readable storage deviceof claim 7, wherein the operations further include receiving a sharedsecret update comprising a plurality of shared secrets.
 13. Thecomputer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the addresscomprises a media access control address of the computing device. 14.The computer-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the computingdevice comprises a cash register, a point of sale terminal, a smart cardreader, a camera, a bar code reader, a radio frequency identificationreader, a credit card reader, a remote order placing device, or acombination thereof.
 15. The computer-readable storage device of claim7, wherein the computing device comprises a portable computer, apersonal digital assistant, a mobile communication device, a wearablecomputing device, an internet device, or a combination thereof.
 16. Asystem comprising: a processor; a memory coupled to the processor; andwherein the memory includes program instructions executable by theprocessor to perform operations including: sending an authenticationseed via an access point and a first network to a computing device;receiving a network address of the first computing device; receiving afirst result of a one-way hash function from the first computing device;selecting a shared secret from a plurality of shared secrets; computinga second result of the one-way hash function of a combination of thenetwork address, the authentication seed, and the shared secret; anddetermining that the computing device is permitted to access a secondnetwork based on the first result matching the second result and basedon a location of the computing device.
 17. The system of claim 16,wherein the access point is at a particular geographic location, andwherein determining that the computing device is permitted to access thesecond network based on the location of the computing device comprisesusing the particular geographic location as the location of thecomputing device.
 18. The system of claim 16, wherein the second networkincludes an internet.
 19. The system of claim 16, wherein the operationsfurther include transmitting the shared secret to the computing device.20. The system of claim 16, wherein the operations further include:receiving a request for the shared secret from the computing device; andtransmitting the shared secret to the computing device in response tothe request.